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SF Country Sourdough – My Best Ever…Not Sure Why

SF Country Sourdough – My Best Ever…Not Sure Why

They say everything happens for a reason, and I believe them. But I can’t always identify the reasons some things happen. Why was this bake of the San Francisco Country Sourdough (my version of pain de campagne) the best ever? This was probably the 7th or 8th time I’ve baked it, but this one had that je-ne-sais-what like my best bakes of Tartine BCB and last week’s bake of Hamelman’s pain au levain. Beautifully caramelized, golden brown, crispy crust; moist, airy-but-substantial crumb, with nicely gelatinized membranes; complex wheaty flavor with a hint of rye.

I guess I should compare this to other bakes of the same formula.

Here’s what was the same:

The ingredients and the basic technique (described below).

Here’s what might have been different:

My starter was very active (after last week’s near-death experience).

Both the primary ferment (3 ¼ hours) and the proof (2 ¼ hours) were on the long side.

My handling/shaping skills are improving, and I got a nice taut sheath.

I made a recipe-and-a-half so I could cold retard one loaf’s worth to bake tomorrow for some friends.

Whatever factor(s) made the difference, I hope I can do it again.

And excellent with some early Autumn barbecue.

San Francisco Country Sourdough (Sourdough Pain de Campagne) version 10-8-11

Yield: Two 750g Loaves; or Three Mini-Baguettes (235g each) and one 800g Loaf; or One 1000g loaf and two 250g baguettes; 0r Three 500 gram loaves; or…

Ingredients

LIQUID-LEVAIN BUILD

100 grams AP flour

24 grams Whole Wheat flour

12 grams Whole rye flour

170 grams Water, cool (60 F or so)

28 Mature culture (75% hydration)

FINAL DOUGH (67% hydration, including levain)

640 grams All-Purpose flour (83%)*

85 grams Whole wheat flour (11%)**

45 grams Whole rye flour (6%)

435 grams Warm water (80 F or so) (56%)

17 grams Salt (2%)

306 Liquid levain (48%)

* used CM Artisan Baker’s Craft (malted)

** used CM Organic Hi-protein fine whole wheat

Directions

1. LIQUID LEVAIN: Make the final build 12 to 15 hours before the final mix, and let stand in a covered container at about 70°F

2. MIXING: Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl, including the levain, but not the salt. Mix just until the ingredients are incorporated into a shaggy mass. Correct the hydration as necessary. Cover the bowl and let stand for an autolyse phase of 30 to 60 minutes. At the end of the autolyse, sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough, and finish mixing 5 minutes. The dough should have a medium consistency.

3. BULK FERMENTATION WITH S&F: 3 hours. Stretch and fold the dough in the bowl twice 20-strokes at 45-minute intervals. Place dough ball in lightly oiled bowl, and stretch and fold on lightly floured board at 45 minutes. If the dough has not increased in size by 75% or so, let it go a bit longer.

4. RETARDED BULK FERMENTATION (optional): After second S&F on board, form dough into ball and then place again in lightly oiled bowl. Refrigerate 8-20 hours, depending on sourness desired and scheduling convenience.

5. DIVIDING AND SHAPING: [Note: if bulk retarded, let dough come to room temperature for 30-90 minutes before pre-shaping.] Divide the dough into pieces and pre-shape. Let sit on board for 30-45 minutes, and then shape into boules or batards or baguettes.

Comments

What a great feeling when everything comes together just right. Nice write-up..percentages and all :) and wonderful photos, crumb shot looks great...even got the bar-b- que ribs 'meat' included :) I don't see anything that this post is missing...Gorgeous bake, Glenn!

What's missing is a way to convey smells and flavors over the internet. The house was aroma heaven yesterday, with the smoking ribs on the porch and the baking bread in the kitchen. And the fresh picked corn from our favorite Anderson Valley farmstand...and the oniony-apple cider vinegary cole slaw. It was a wonderful array of flavors.

That happens A LOT with me, too; exactly the same formula and methods but the varied results for some mysterious reasons unknown to me. I feel the bread journey is often like this....and sometimes can be like this. :p

Really love the way your crumb opened up with lots of good size holes and the colour of the crust. Must've tasted great, too. :)

I think it would be easier to solve the mysteries if I baked the same bread week after week. As many here have suggested, that's a good way to isolate the variables. But, even if one has more data, there are still some intangible factors. Makes every bake like a suspense novel...but edible.

Probably....if you can stand eating the same bread week after week. And you and I both know we can't! :p I'd just just tell myself going 3 steps forward, 2 steps back repeatedly with lots of unexpected variables on the way is the fun of homebaking, too....to comfort myself. :p

Your friends are in for a real treat when you present them with a loaf like these ones Glenn! You've been making some awesome looking loaves of late and these 2 beauties are no exception, with the nice bold bake on the crust and airy open crumb. Tasty looking ribs as well!

The explanation for your bread's improvement is simple: It's "all of the above."

Each detail makes a difference. When every one of them - good ingredients, good dough developement, optimal (long, slow, but ample) fermentation, good dough handling and good baking - happens, there is joy.

I guess all of those factors play a part. I think my instincts/feel about how long to ferment and proof and how gentle-forceful to be in mixing and shaping are evolving. But, as Eric suggests, luck plays a role, too.

Thanks for the compliment. Coming from a bread artist like you, it means a lot.

Excellent bread. Phil's comment from Alan Scott is revealing. We get better by doing things over and over; I don't think you have to be too narrow about it, and the range of breads you have experimented with along the way give you good breadth of knowledge too.

I also think that the best way to improve is to practice alot, possibly with the same receipe. So I picked this to use for my practice. My only question is: I understand only a part of the liquid levain is to be used (306g out of the 334g built up), but with this amount (306g) the hydratation comes out 66%. So, since the stated hydratation is 67%, maybe I have to use all the liquid levain built (334g). Not sure it would make such a big difference but, since I'm trying to isolate my errors, i'd like to be as accurate as possible.

I tried this one and the result was nowhere near as good. I am just a starting baker and am trying to get the hydration right as I realize different flours have different water absorption capacities so the recipe has to be adjusted. My dough ended up way to wet. I added a bit more flour than the recipe but it still was wet (using Robin Hood Whole Wheat Flour, All Purpose Flour and fresh ground rye berries).

I am wondering what such the very liquid levain does for the outcome vs using a bit drier one?

Hi Glenn - How do you introduce steam to bake this loaf? I'm a new bread baker and have tried to bake a loaf like this MANY times but I am not anywhere near where I would like to be. Your loaf looked great!

3. BULK FERMENTATION WITH S&F: 3 hours. Stretch and fold the dough in the bowl twice 20-strokes at 45-minute intervals. Place dough ball in lightly oiled bowl, and stretch and fold on lightly floured board at 45 minutes. If the dough has not increased in size by 75% or so, let it go a bit longer.

Hello, I cannot make heads or tails of this step. Perhaps you could clarify? After I'm done mixing, do I do 20 stretch and folds, wait 45 minutes, then do another 20? Then let the dough rest for 2 hours and 15 minutes? Because if you do 20 s&f's right after you're done mixing, wait 45 minutes, then do another 20, that would be 40 s&f's separated by one 45 minute interval.

Then, it gets even more confusing to me. You say to place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and s&f on a lighly floured board at 45 minutes. Is this done after the first 3 hours? Or is this part of the 3 hour ferment?

I must have read this step about thirty times and just cannot grasp the sequence. Maybe because it's 1am.

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